


welcome to elixr

by bwaystanforlife



Category: The Society (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Panic Attacks, and bond over shakespeare, background becca/kelly, background grizzam, background helena/elle, harry goes to harvard cause yes, shit ton of fluff, they eat a lot of ramen, they live in MA not CT in this because i say so
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:08:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26112436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bwaystanforlife/pseuds/bwaystanforlife
Summary: At Helena's pointed look, Allie took Harry's outstretched hand to shake it, but she still rolled her eyes while doing it. "Harry Bingham," he said by way of introduction. She smirked at his clear avoidance of pleasantries that he had shared with Helena and Grizz."Allie Pressman," she responded, putting a certain emphasis on her last name hoping his Harvard brain could put two and two together. He nodded slightly laughing to himself as she saw the understanding dawn in his eyes. "And I'll be training you," she added smirking while she watched Harry's jaw go slack.- or the coffee shop au i felt was missing from the hallie fandom -
Relationships: Harry Bingham/Allie Pressman
Kudos: 27





	1. prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is something i've been working on for a while and with everything going on, i thought i'd post it since i think we could all use some fluff rn

Allie Pressman had never heard her sister complain this much about one person since her sophomore English teacher refused to let her write a paper about _Gone with the Wind_ for their final literary analysis project. Yet, here she was ten minutes into a rant about this pompous jerk from her Human Nature class. 

“And you won’t even believe what I heard him say to his little entourage when he walked out of class!” Cassandra exclaimed loudly while gesturing with her coffee cup making Allie nervous. She did not need another mess to clean up once she got off her break. 

“What did he say?” Allie responded, even though Cassandra would have told her no matter what. There’s no stopping her when she gets like this. 

“That tomorrow he has a class about social change policy, laws, and politics!” Cassandra was almost shouting at this point, but Allie had no clue what the big deal about "social change policy, laws, and politics" was. At Allie’s blank stare, Cassandra let out a sigh. “ _I_ have that class tomorrow,” she clarified, and Allie nodded, understanding her frustration now. “I was really looking forward to having meaningful discussions and debates in that class, but I don’t know how I’ll be able to do that without ripping the guy’s head off.” 

“I’m sure he’s not that bad, Cass. He might be very academically stimulating.” 

“I doubt it. Allie, people like Harry Bingham are the reason Harvard students have such a bad reputation. Not all of us have our heads that far up our asses!”

Allie snorted while she checked her phone for the time, having a feeling her break was up. “Cassandra, you are the most diplomatic person I know. You’ll be fine, I promise. Now, I need to get back to work, but make sure to say bye before you leave, 'kay?” Cassandra nodded as Allie got up to get back behind the counter to take coffee orders. 

When she got behind the counter, a young, admittedly hot, guy in a Harvard sweatshirt was waiting at the register as Grizz, who was working the shift with her, was busy making a latte. “Sorry for the wait. Welcome to Elixr, what can I get you?” She gave her best “please tip me well” smile on. 

“Just a small black coffee,” he informs her, not even looking up from his phone. ' _Psychopath'_ , she thinks to herself as she inputs his order. His eyes dart up to hers for a split second before moving over to the display of baked goods next to her. “And one of those cookies.” Allie nods, _okay maybe not a psychopath then…_ She had baked those cookies earlier before her shift had started, and she was always incredibly pleased when a customer ordered one.

“Can I get a name for the order?”

“Harry.” 

Allie froze, eyes wide for a second before she recovered. There was no way this was the same Harry that her sister had just been complaining about not even a minute ago. It was just a coincidence that this guy named Harry was wearing a Harvard sweatshirt. Harry is a common name too, so there is no way this is the same guy. She finished up the transaction quickly and put one of the cookies from the case in a bag. Handing it to Harry, Allie informed him that his coffee would be ready in a moment. She turned to make his coffee while Grizz took over the cash register; but in the corner of her eye, she saw Harry approach her sister. 

After making his black coffee, she turned to pour it in a cup seeing Harry casually smirking at Cassandra. Allie could see the tenseness in her sister’s shoulders. Without even seeing her face, Allie knew her sister was frustrated and forcing herself not to yell at the man standing above her eating a cookie. Putting the top on the to-go cup, Allie knew she had to rescue her sister. 

“Harry!” She called out alerting him that his coffee was ready. He nodded to Cassandra, smirk still on his face before walking over to grab the coffee. As he walked out he left a five-dollar bill in the tip jar making Allie smile, ' _Maybe Cassandra was overexaggerating about this guy…_ ' 

“Well, now you’ve met him,” Cassandra muttered as she walked up to Allie clearly getting ready to leave. 

“He didn’t seem that bad, Cass. He even left a tip!” Allie exclaimed gesturing to the jar on the counter. 

Cassandra raised her eyebrows before informing Allie, “He said the cookie was too dry.”

Allie’s eyes widened at this. She had spent years perfecting that recipe, and everyone who tried it always loved it. Allie had easily become incredibly proud of them, and there was no way she could trust someone who didn’t like it. “What? He thinks he can do better?!” 

Cassandra nodded, “That’s exactly what he said.”

Allie scoffed at that. “Well then, I take it back. He’s just as bad as you said. Sorry that you have to deal with him tomorrow, Cass.” She smiled softly as if to offer her condolences to her sister. 

Cassandra shrugged, “I’ll be fine. Anyways, I have to get to my next class. Love you!” She reached out and gave Allie’s hand a squeeze before turning to leave. 

“Love you too!” Allie called out before going back to work. She just wished she could text Becca and Elle about what had just happened. 

-

Harry pulled out his phone to call Kelly as soon as he stepped out of the coffee shop. He had promised earlier today to call her after class; and honestly, he couldn’t avoid her forever. 

As he scrolled through his contacts looking for Kelly’s, he heard the door open behind which was immediately followed by a scoff. 

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Cassandra Pressman bit out. He suppressed a groan for having to face the annoying, self-righteous girl again for the third time today. 

Plastering on a signature smirk, he turned to her. “What do you want, Cassandra?”

“Lots of things, Harry. I would say the most immediate thing though is that I don’t want to run into you everywhere I go.” She raised her eyebrows at him as if daring him to come up with a witty response to that as he had with everything she had said so far. 

“Well, that makes two of us,” he responded still with his smirk in its place. Cassandra rolled her eyes and walked away clearly done with the conversation. “See you in class tomorrow!” He called out just to try to get underneath her skin one last time. Turning his attention back to his phone, he hit the call button while sitting down on a bench outside of the coffee shop. 

On the second ring, Kelly picked up. “Stopped avoiding me, I see.” He could hear her smiling nonetheless. 

“I didn’t avoid you for that long. I just got a cup of coffee,” Harry retorted. She hummed at his response. Harry held his breath as he waited for the question that he knew was bound to come up with Kelly. It was the reason she had told him to call her in the first place. 

“How was therapy?” Kelly got right to it. 

Harry had started going to therapy a few months ago. After his father died, he started acting out and turning into a terrible person. He cheated on Kelly, his girlfriend at the time; started using drugs to the point where he started to depend on them more than he could care to admit; threw more parties than necessary; and flaunted his money around. He became the classic rich asshole that he always swore he would never become. Kelly eventually dumped him, rightfully so, but he started to lose further sight of himself. Harry’s slow spiral brought him further into depression until finally, Kelly forced himself to go through a drug detox and to start going to therapy. 

His therapist thinks the way he was acting was either a call for help for Kelly, a call for attention from his absent mother, or Harry turning into the polar opposite of his father because he couldn’t deal with his father’s death. Harry thinks it’s probably a combination of all three. 

“It was good.” He trailed off knowing Kelly was gonna ask about the main issue that had been worrying both him and her. 

“And did she have any advice on how to deal with your roommates?” She was clearly setting up the question to be answered with a simple yes or no allowing him to only elaborate if he so chose, which Harry appreciated. 

He hesitated, not sure how he wanted to answer the question. His therapist had given him a few ideas on how to deal with his roommates. There was nothing particularly wrong about them, but they were the same kind of jerks Harry used to be before therapy. Their friends were the same way, and they had a few classes with him. He was struggling with how to separate himself from them without making his four years inherently harder on himself. 

“Yeah, she had a few ideas of what I could do. The main thing was to try my best to avoid hanging out with them for an extended amount of time if I can. She thinks I should try and make new friends who would be better for me. She thinks maybe I should join a club, start a study group, or maybe get a job,” he informed Kelly. 

“Get a job?” She laughed. 

“Of course that’s what you focus on.” 

“No, I think it would be good for you.”

“Yeah?”

“Earning your own money for once instead of being given everything would be good for you. It would also allow you to meet people completely outside of Harvard, so you can get a good group of friends before trying to figure out who is actually good for you at Harvard.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. A job might be good…” 

“Well, thank you for calling me. I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah, see you,” he smiled to himself, hanging up the phone. Harry got up getting ready to get in his car to head back to his dorm. As he turned to leave, he caught sight of a help wanted sign in the window of the coffee shop. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! comments and kudos always appreciated (especially comments, i love reading people's comments on hallie fics, seriously even if i didn't write them, comments just make me smile)


	2. act 1: enemies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elixr gains a new employee causing some interesting dynamics as Allie has to train him...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick tw: there is a panic attack at the end of this scene from the character who's having it's pov, but i tried my best to not make it to graphic or triggering, but i did want to warn you

As weird as it was, Allie loved staff meetings at Elixr. It was always just Allie, Grizz, and Helena sitting around with Stephen, the owner, eating pastries discussing what they should do with the coffee shop (adding drinks or food, holding events, closing for certain days, etc.). Becca calls her pathetic, but she looks forward to the monthly staff meetings and won’t deny it. 

Reaching for a chocolate croissant, Allie laughs at a joke Grizz makes about their most annoying customer who takes pretty much all of the honey that they set out for his tea. She can understand using a good amount of honey in her tea as much as the next person, but this man is solely responsible for the insane amount of times that they have to restock the honey. Helena plopped down next to her, setting down a plate of brownies that Allie knew she had baked fresh this morning. She offered Helena a smile of thanks as she continued to listen to Grizz and grabbed a brownie.

“Okay! Now that we’re all here and ready, let’s get started!” Stephen exclaimed, pulling their attention away from making fun of customers and stuffing their faces full of pastries. “I know the past few weeks have been hard since Mickey had to leave for his study abroad program and Emily transferred schools,” Allie nodded thinking about all of the extra shifts she’s had to pick up, “but I finally was able to hire another employee!” Stephen clapped his hands together to cap off his good news.

“Just one employee?” Allie questioned. They had lost two employees, and Allie wasn’t the best at math but she knew for a fact that one and two are not the same.

“Well, the main reason we had so many employees at the time was because so many of you were in high school. As you are very aware, Allie, that limits your hours a lot more than college kids who can pick up random off hours between classes. This new employee is a college kid, not a high school kid, so I felt that we would be fine with just one for now,” Stephen explained to her. “However, I understand your concern, and I will hire more if needed.” She nodded as he finished up. 

“So, when are we going to meet them?” Grizz followed up, ever the people person. 

“More importantly, when do they start?” Helena asked, ever the manager. 

“What’s their star sign?” Feeling Helena’s eyes on her questioningly, Allie quickly added, “What? I wanted to ask a question too, and Becca tells me to always ask that.” 

Laughing, Stephen responded, “You’ll meet him today, he starts tomorrow, and he’s a Pisces if I remember correctly.” Allie nodded trying to remember what Becca told her that meant. She was drawing a blank, so she snuck her phone out under the table to shoot her a quick text that read  _ new guy is a pisces apparently??  _ Turning her attention back to Stephen who was discussing logistics and schedules for the next month with Helena while she waited for a response. 

Allie truly admired Helena and the effort she put into her job. She had only just been named manager after Emily left, but she had been trained through her assistant manager position during her senior year in preparation for Emily leaving. Allie had watched Helena prove herself over and over again as one of the most impressive leaders she’s ever seen, second to only her sister. She was incredibly level headed for working in food service every day, and she continued to stay strong and keep her cool even when she was dealing with her break up the past year. On top of all of that, she had also easily become one of Allie’s closest friends even as her manager. Working the first shift of the day after a nearby frat party together will do that to you. 

Allie felt her phone buzz on top of her thigh and quickly checked it. Becca had responded with " _get ready for sparks to fly lol_ " confused, Allie responded with a simple " _wtf??_ " She shook her head at the conversation and got ready to turn her attention back to Stephen when she saw Grizz looking at her from the corner of her eye. She turned to him slightly and saw him pulling a face at her, meaning he had caught her on her phone. Allie just put her finger to her lips to ask him to keep it quiet. He just snorted in response as Helena finished up her questioning of Stephen. 

“So Allie, as assistant manager, we need you to train the new guy. Plus, he asked for afternoon shifts, and you’re the one with the most afternoon shifts so…” He trailed off. 

“You don’t need to explain it. I’m happy to do it, Stephen,” Allie smiled at the prospect of taking on more responsibility and being taken seriously in her newfound position of assistant manager. She had been a bit shocked about getting the job as she was still in high school as opposed to Grizz who had just graduated and was going into his freshman year of college like Helena. Stephen and Helena insisted that it should be her though, and Grizz agreed meaning there were no hard feelings between them which calmed her, she couldn’t stand  _ Grizz _ of all people being mad at her. It would also be hard on Sam, who would have had to choose sides between his cousin and his boyfriend. 

As the meeting came to an end, Allie got up to put Helena’s brownies in a to go box to bring some for Elle per Helena’s request. She saw right through it. She rolled her eyes at Helena’s attempts to be coy about it claiming she mentioned she was making them today to Elle last night when Elle asked for help on an English assignment and asked for Allie to bring some. Allie knew for a fact that there was definitely a phone call last night, but it was not because of an English assignment. Elle was amazing in English class, so that was obviously an excuse to call Helena. She also knew Helena would have had Allie bring Elle brownies either way. She loved her friends, she really did. She just wished they would get their act together instead of going through Allie all of the time. It was so painfully obvious to everyone that they were into each other, but they both were just too scared to make the first move. 

“Hey Al! Did you bring the cardstock?” Helena called out as she helped Grizz clean up their mess. Yet another incredibly sappy thing Helena was doing. She had volunteered to help Allie plan Elle’s upcoming birthday party and was making the invitations.

“Of course! What do you take me for?” Allie called back laughing as she finished boxing up the brownies before heading over to get her bag in the back.

She heard the bell above the door ring out as someone entered the shop. Allie assumed it was the new employee because Stephen had mentioned earlier that he would be stopping by to meet everybody before tomorrow, but he didn’t want him at the meeting yet in order to prepare everybody. 

“Hi, sorry, am I late?” The person called out clearly confused by the employees cleaning up in front of him. Allie grabbed the pastel pink and blue cardstock from her bag and replaced them with the container of brownies as she got ready to head out front to meet the new employee. 

“No, you are right on time! We just had some things to sort out before you got here,” she heard Stephen explain as she walked out. Helena grabbed the cardstock from her with a quiet thank you before quickly putting it by her stuff to go greet the new employee. 

Allie looked up to see who the new guy was, and she froze in place, shock reaching every inch of her body. Harry Bingham stood with Stephen smiling as Helena walked up to join them.  _ Harry Bingham?! _ Why would a rich Harvard kid who annoyed the ever living crap out of her sister be getting a minimum wage job at the local coffee shop? You would think he’d be going sailing or something in his spare time if his god awful boat shoes were anything to go by. Instead, he came here to pour lattes and serve pastries alongside her.  _ Oh god…  _ She was going to have to train Harry Bingham and have almost every single shift with him for the next few weeks. The excitement at being given such a responsibility quickly morphed into dread seeing the asshole she would have to deal with. 

Harry had finished up talking to Grizz and turned to her with a charming smile plastered on. Allie crossed her arms angrily as he walked up to her to introduce himself. 

“Hi,” he greeted, clearly trying to remain cheerful and pleasant in response to her closed off position and clear annoyance radiating off of her. He stretched out his hand for a handshake, but Allie just stared at his hand instead of grasping it. She heard him awkwardly clear his throat, but he still kept his hand outstretched. Allie lifted her eyes to look at him, and she got a glimpse of Helena behind his shoulder looking at her fiercely.  At Helena's pointed look, Allie took Harry's outstretched hand to shake it, but she still rolled her eyes while doing it. "Harry Bingham," he said by way of introduction. She smirked at his clear avoidance of pleasantries that he had shared with Helena and Grizz.

"Allie Pressman," she responded, putting a certain emphasis on her last name hoping his Harvard brain could put two and two together. He nodded slightly laughing to himself as she saw the understanding dawn in his eyes. "And I'll be training you," she added smirking while she watched Harry's jaw go slack. 

“I’m assuming you’re related to Cassandra Pressman then?” Harry asked, recovering and clenching his jaw at her clear dislike for him. He probably wasn’t used to people seeing through his charming facade so quickly and just getting straight to hating him. 

Nodding, Allie answered, “She’s my sister.” Harry sighed obviously upset at this. 

“Can someone else train me?” He called out to Stephen. Allie almost felt bad for him, but she was too busy pitying herself for having to spend all of that time with him. 

“Sorry, Harry, but no. Allie’s the only one who already works the same shifts you requested, and she’s our assistant manager,” Stephen explained, actually sounding sympathetic to Harry. 

She watched Harry work his jaw as if he was grinding his teeth as he met her gaze straight on. Allie smirked at him as she cocked her head to the side reveling in his annoyance. “Awesome…” Harry muttered to himself not breaking his gaze from Allie’s. 

-

Harry finished typing up his paper for his Human Nature class before shutting off his computer to put it in his bag. He was sitting in the front seat of his maserati parked outside of the coffee shop while he worked on some homework. Despite school being stressful to most, it was the one thing that Harry knew he was always good at. Writing essays and kissing teachers’ asses were his greatest skills, and right now there were no teachers around, hence the essay. His anxiety levels were higher than normal every time he even thought about the prospect of stepping foot in the coffee shop, so he decided to sit in his car and calm down while writing about whether he believed humans were naturally good or evil. 

He never would have thought that starting a job like this would ramp up his anxiety as much as it has, but Harry knew he would have to walk in there and face Allie Pressman who hated him even though she didn’t even know him. Well, she thought she knew him… Allie had based her entire opinion of him on what Cassandra had told her, and Cassandra only knew him based on the front he had put on on the first day. Being that guy then was the whole reason he got this job: to learn to not default back to that guy. Cassandra would never see sense on that though, but maybe Allie could be persuaded… 

The bell chimed above Harry as he stepped into Elixr to start his first shift. He surveyed the room looking for someone he knew before spotting Grizz behind the counter. He trudged up to him as he kept his eyes peeled for Allie. 

“Hey man,” Harry greeted as he reached the counter. Finally daring to look for Allie, he peered past Grizz into what he could see into the backroom, but there was no sign of the blonde menace. “Is Allie running late or something?” 

Grizz looked up at him questioningly, “What do you mean? Allie’s already here.” He pointed over Harry’s shoulder where Allie was in the midst of packing up her laptop and notebooks at a nearby table. Clearly, she had been doing the same thing as Harry before her shift except she felt comfortable enough to do it inside the shop. As she finished zipping up her bag, Allie looked up meeting his eyes. He felt his eyebrow quirk up without even giving it a thought already slipping into the cool, confident character he needed to become in order to get through this shift with her. Thankfully, he wasn’t closing with her tonight since it was only his first shift, but Harry knew that would only be a matter of time. 

“Time to clock in, Bingham,” she said as she walked past him towards the back expecting him to follow her. He does because, despite the dread that has twisted itself into a knot into his stomach, he’s not stupid enough to not go clock in for his shift. Following the golden haired demon in front of him, he’s led to the back room where their punch in clock is located. It’s in this small kitchen, which he was a bit surprised the place had in the first place, right next to a service closet. Allie opens the door and places her bag on a hook within the tiny room. Turning her body towards him, she gestures for him to do the same with the bag on his shoulder. 

“Okay, Harvard, this is how we clock in,” Allie spoke placatingly trying to get a rise out of him. Taking a deep breath, Harry watched on as she pressed a few buttons on the machine signifying she was starting her shift. She stepped to the side to allow Harry to do the same while also being able to observe him over his shoulder to ensure he didn’t break the machine. 

After successfully clocking in, Allie led him to the front to get started on their shift and his training. Harry didn’t miss the look Grizz gave Allie as he passed them on his way to clock out of his shift. 

Reaching the front register, she turned to him ready to get started for the day. “So I’ll take the first few orders to show you how to use the register and our machine, then you’ll take the rest of them with my help. Okay?” Harry nodded, not really feeling like her statement deemed a verbal response unless he wanted to engage in another verbal tennis match with another Pressman today. Truly, he wouldn't quite mind it. He always enjoyed getting a rise out of Cassandra, but Harry did not need to worry about clever banter when he still needed to learn how to work the register right now. 

After a few minutes of watching Allie take orders and make coffees, she finally deemed him ready enough to try and deal with a customer. A young woman, most likely a graduate student at one of the schools nearby, walked up to the counter to order from him. He quickly pulled out the most charming smile he had to greet her and seeing her eyes light up when she made eye contact with him let Harry know that he was successful. 

“What can I get you?” He ensured he was using his “prom king” voice as Kelly liked to call it when talking to her. He knew women always melted at that voice, at least the ones he flirted with at parties did. 

“Just a medium cappuccino with almond milk, please,” she breathed smiling at him as she bit her lip.  _ Hook, line, and sinker… _

“Good choice. Can I get a name for the order?”

“Natalie.”

“That’s a beautiful name,” he continued to flirt with her before taking her money to pay for the order. He turned around to get started on the order; but instead, Harry was met with Allie’s face filled with rage for some reason. “Yes?” He dragged out the word teasing her. 

“Did you have to flirt with her?” She demanded crossing her arms. His eyes widened as he chuckled to himself. If this was anyone else but Allie Pressman, he would have assumed that they were jealous of him. He knew better though… She just hated him and everything he did, just like Cassandra. 

He asked her anyways, “What? You jealous?”

Allies eyes widened in shock and her nostrils flared at that. She scoffed loudly before saying, “No!” She was obviously getting flustered and upset at the question. “I just think it’s unprofessional of you to flirt with the customers.”

“Oh come on,” he groaned, finally pushing past her to get to the coffee machine. “She’ll probably tip us higher because of it and don’t we split the tips?” He reminded her with a pointed look while she rolled her eyes. 

“Whatever, let’s just get started on Natalie’s order…” Harry smirked to himself hearing the mocking tone in her voice when saying the customer’s name. 

Allie tried to start explaining the specifics on how to use the machine, but he had already gotten started on the drink. She watched in shocked silence as he finished making the cappuccino. Harry had watched her make drinks for a good while, and it didn’t seem that difficult. Harry always was a fast learner. It also didn’t hurt that he had a similar machine at home growing up… He put a lid on the drink before calling out for Natalie to give it to her. 

“How’d you do that?” Allie demanded after he gave the drink to Natalie as they headed back to the register to wait for more customers. 

He shrugged as he said, “Wouldn’t you like to know?

“Uh, yeah! That’s why I just asked you?”

“What can I say? I’m a man of mystery…” 

“Oh yeah?” Allie crossed her arms as she stared him down. His mind provided a flash of a self-righteous Cassandra about to serve him on his white, male privilege in their social change in politics class as he looked at Allie. God, you could really tell they were sisters when they got like this. “Well, I’m guessing that you own one of those fancy rich boy coffee machines at home, don’t you? And one day, you had to learn how to use it because your nanny wasn’t there to make you your morning cup of coffee in bed like usual. Am I right or am I right?” 

Harry shook his head with a scoff as he looked at her eyes sparkling at the prospect of having cornered him on his extravagant lifestyle. “No, you’re not. It was my housekeeper, not my nanny.”

Laughing, Allie exclaims, “Like it matters!” 

“It does!” Harry insists, laughing with her. “There’s a very big distinction between a nanny and a housekeeper! I don’t think she would appreciate you mixing them up like that!” 

“Well, I think she would appreciate not having to deal with your ass more!” She fired back smirking up at him. 

Chuckling, he conceded, “Probably…” He smiled at her actually feeling comfortable with how their verbal sparring match went. Unlike Cassandra who left him with a boiling need to have the last word and make her flare up with anger, Allie just made him laugh with her digs at him and left him feeling at ease. 

Allie quickly shook her head, and Harry watched as she put her walls back up. Her face once smirking and self satisfied was once again cold and disinterested. “Whatever…” She muttered. “Let’s get back to work. I’ll go clean the tables while you handle the orders since you’re such a coffee expert,” she taunted as she walked away from the register. 

Harry smiled to himself as he considered both Allie and what had just transpired.  _ Maybe working here wouldn’t be so bad…  _

-

“I just can’t stand him!” Allie groaned, falling back against Becca’s hundreds of throw pillows. She felt a bit of hair fall out of her bun at the sudden movement, but she decided against adjusting it. Getting her curly hair to cooperate enough to make the original bun was hard enough. 

“Uh huh… I hear ya…” Becca muttered while scrolling through her phone clearly not paying attention to her. She rolled her eyes before kicking Becca off the bed. The loud thump that rang out across the room and yelp that followed startled Elle who was currently trying to find something to watch on Netflix on the edge of the bed. “What was that for?!” Becca shrieked at Allie, raising herself up off the floor. 

Shrugging, Allie responded, “You weren’t paying attention to me.” 

“Yeah, cause you’ve been complaining about Harry Bingham for the past thirty minutes!” She scolded her. Taking in Allie’s expression and shaking of her head, Becca softened. “Allie, I get that you ‘hate’ the guy, but don’t you think this anger may be misplaced?” 

“What?! Becca, you said it yourself ‘get ready for the sparks to fly’!” She shot back indignantly.

“Not what I meant…” Becca dragged out. “Still, you went into this already hating the guy because of Cassandra who based her entire opinion of him on one interaction in class. She hates him because he doesn’t agree with her and forces her into angry debates. You, however, haven’t actually had a bad interaction with him! The way you describe everything he does,” she gestured, looking for the right words, “it just sounds like he’s teasing you because he wants to make you frustrated.”

“What are you talking about? I had a bad interaction with him! Remember the cookie?”

“Ah, yes! The infamous cookie incident! Allie, all the guy did was have an opinion on a baked good and then tell your sister about it, who he didn’t even know was your sister or that you made the cookie!” 

“Are you saying he was right for not liking my cookie?!”

“That’s not what I’m saying at all, and you know that! I’m just suggesting that maybe, just maybe, you’re using this one incident to make it seem like he personally wronged you in order to relate to Cassandra and have something to talk about now that she’s in college.” 

Allie faltered for a second considering Becca’s words before responding, “N-no. That’s not it at all… Can we just drop it?” 

Becca threw her hands up in defeat, “You’re the one who brought him up!” 

“That’s irrelevant!” Allie shot back.

Before Becca could open her mouth to respond though, Elle shouted, “Guys!” Bending backwards to look at the two of them, she announced, “I picked a movie!” 

“Finally!” Becca groaned. “Maybe that’ll get Allie to shut up about Harry.” 

“Come on! I don’t talk about him that much!” She protested while settling herself on the pillows in between Elle and Becca to get comfortable. 

“You really do though,” Elle piped in, finally adding her own two cents to the argument. 

“I mean, I get it… He’s an incredibly hot, intelligent guy who continuously gets you all worked up and flustered,” Becca added. 

Eyebrows raising and eyes widening, “Hot?” Allie questioned. 

“Incredibly so,” Elle repeated nodding. “We’ve seen his instagram.” She informed Allie. 

“And you two, of all people, have agreed that he is ‘incredibly hot’?”

“What?” Becca scoffed offended. “We’re lesbians, not blind.”

“Whatever,” she muttered, crossing her arms and burrowing deeper into the pillows. “Let’s just watch the movie.” Allie turned her attention to the screen where Cher was currently picking up Dionna from school. 

Becca slowly leaned in to stage whisper so Elle could hear, “So when are you gonna sleep with him?”

Elle spit loudly as Allie’s hair hit her in the face, getting in her mouth too, as she whipped her head around to look at Becca in pure horror. “What?!” She shrieked, probably louder than necessary. 

Becca laughs as she explains, “Seriously? You can’t tell me that part of the reason you two argue the way you do isn’t because of sexual tension?”

“You haven’t even seen us interact with each other!” Allie pointed put grasping at straws to try and get her childhood best friend to drop this topic of conversation. 

It was in moments like this she longed for move nights with Will… Everything was less complicated then, and Allie would never have to worry about having this conversation with Becca if Will was in the room. Especially cause this conversation would be about  _ Will- _ not Harry, which reminded her once again why Will wasn’t talking to her and those movie nights were a thing of the past. 

“Yeah, but Grizz has,” Becca explained to Allie which caused her to roll her eyes once again. Of course, Grizz probably complained about her and Allie to Sam who then decided to tell Becca that it was “sexual tension” apparently. 

“And Helena!” Elle added. Allie praised whatever being was watching down on her in that moment, because Elle and Helena’s dancing around each other was a topic she could always pounce on to distract everyone from her own sad love life, or lack thereof in Harry’s case. 

“Oh, you’re getting your girlfriend to spy on me,” Allie teased Elle, causing the other girl to blush and avoid eye contact with her.  _ Victory!  _

“Helena’s not my girlfriend,” Elle murmured, refusing to look up at Allie. 

“Mhmm, sure, Elle. It’s not like Helena’s whipped for you anything… Like she’s just dying for you to ask her out!” She pointedly emphasized the last three words while looking at Elle. 

Becca quickly interjected, “Don’t change the subject! Elle already knows she needs to ask Helena out. So I will ask again, when are you gonna sleep with him?” She smirked as she watched Allie’s face once again contrast into shock and disgust. 

“Never!” Allie shrieked just hoping to be done with this conversation. 

“Well, that’s just unrealistic,” Elle shook her head looking at Becca. She threw her hands up in the air in disbelief. She was pretty sure if anyone would know if or when she would sleep with Harry Bingham it would be herself but apparently not. 

“So, when do you think?” Becca asked Elle, clearly choosing to ignore Allie’s current state of distraught at the topic. 

Mulling it over, Elle responded with, “I’m gonna go with… graduation.” 

“Oh! That’s a good one,” Becca praised as if this conversation was anything praiseworthy. “I think it’ll be prom.” Elle nodded obviously sharing the same sentiment of that being a “good one”. 

“Well, if you two are done betting on my sex life, can we please get back to the movie?” Allie questioned, exasperated and wanting to crawl into a hole and die. 

“We’re not betting on your sex life,” Elle argued instead of shutting up. 

“But we should!” Becca exclaimed, also not shutting up. 

“No, you shouldn’t! Now, let’s watch the movie before I pull out my phone and post the video of you two dancing to that stupid baby shark song while wearing face masks on my instagram!” Allie shouted glaring at her two best friends hoping she was being threatening enough. The two girls muttered bitterly to themselves but complied with her request turning back to the movie. 

As she watched Cher and Dionne give Tai a makeover, Allie couldn’t help but wonder if the girls were right… Was she projecting Cassandra’s hatred onto Harry without any real reason to hate him herself? Should she try and start over with the guy? Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to the movie not wanting to deal with those questions tonight, especially if the girls were right about the whole sexual tension thing… 

-

Harry was frustrated with this coffee machine. Cappuccinos he could do, but lattes were another story… This was honestly the first time he had to make a latte, usually Allie stuck him on cappuccino and tea orders because they were simple enough for him. Today, though, she said he was ready to try and handle all the order on his own while she stuck to cleaning tables and manning the cash register when he couldn’t. But now, he was staring at all of the buttons in front of him with no idea what to do. 

He knew he could always ask Allie, but Harry knew that would just make her more insufferable. She would get all cocky and start teasing him about his lack of coffee making skills. It just didn’t seem worth it. Instead, he decided to slyly pull his phone out and look up the manual online to try and forget out how to make this fucking latte. 

“What are you doing?” Allie asks, coming up behind him causing him to jump. In his shock, he dropped his phone on the ground which she definitely saw. “Texting on the job, really Harry?” He could hear the judgement dripping from her words as she once again assumed the worst of him. 

“I wasn’t texting! I just needed to check something,” he argued trying to be as vague as possible as he picked up his phone off the ground. 

“Well, you’ve been standing in the corner staring at the latte machine and not doing your job! Excuse me for thinking that it could be because you were texting!” Allie continued to reprimand his back as he refused to turn around and look at her. Instead, he chose to face the demon coffee machine in front of him. 

Trying desperately to get her off his back so he could get back to googling how to use the machine, Harry bit out, “Well, maybe you should mind your business!”

Scoffing and refusing to leave, she fired back with, “Considering I’m your assistant manager and training you, it is my business!” 

Finally turning to face her with his chest overflowing with frustration at her and the machine he had been dealing with, he blurted out, “I was googling how to use the latte machine!” 

Allie hesitated amping up Harry’s anxiety in the moment not knowing how she would respond. She then, which he should have seen coming, started to laugh. “What? You were googling how to use the machine?” Groaning out at the humiliation of her finding out, he nodded, hanging his head. “Why didn’t you just ask for help?”

“Cause I didn’t want to deal with you laughing at me and being insufferable,” Allie faked offense at that, “like you’re doing right now.” 

Nodding, Allie turned to walk away as she said, “Okay then, have fun.”

Confused and alarmed by her reaction, Harry’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist before she could walk away. “Wait, you’re just gonna leave me here?”

“Uh yeah, I am. I mean, it’s not like you’ve asked for my help,” Allie smirked. Now Harry understood. She just wanted to hear him ask, probably beg, for her help so she could relish in it and gloat. This is exactly why he turned to Google in the first place. Google would never mock him for asking for help or hold it over his head for the rest of time. 

“You’re really gonna make me say it?” Harry hesitantly asked hoping she would give in now. 

Smirk never leaving her face, she nodded, “Oh yeah.” 

Sighing, Harry bit the bullet and in a rush said, “Can you please help me?”

Allie then cocked her hand behind her ear pretending she hadn’t heard him as her grin widened. “What was that?”  _ She really was milking this…  _

“Can you please help me?” 

“Oh, of course I will!” Allie exclaimed faking delight. “Nothing would please me more than to help the great Harry Bingham expert on coffee machines with this!” 

“Ha ha. Can you please just show me how to use it? We have paying customers you know?” 

Allie then, tauntingly slow, showed him what buttons to press and how to make the latte for the customer. He could tell she was purposefully making it seem like he was toddler just to get under his skin. As much as he preferred fighting, if you could even call it that with this Pressman, she really did know how to make him feel like ripping his hair out. All he did was finally ask for her help instead of trying to be an efficient employee who didn’t rely entirely on superior. Sue him for wanting to do his job well!

“Got it?” She asked him, way too chipper. Harry chose to nod instead of using one of the many callus insults floating around in his head right now. He just needed to get that latte to the customer before they got mad at him for taking way too long. 

After he had handed off the latte to the customer along with an apology for the wait, he turned to see Allie smiling at him which immediately put him on edge. “What do you want?” he asked, eyes narrowing suspiciously. 

“Just waiting to see if you still need my help! Do you need me to show you how to use the kettle,” she gasped, “or the tongs?!” 

He shook his head at her in disbelief. “You’re never gonna let go of this are you?” He honestly already knew the answer to that question but he hoped that she would somehow in that sadistic head of hers have mercy on him. 

“Nope!” She chirped. “I’m already marking it on my calendar: the day Harry Bingham asked for my help! I’ll make sure to call you on every anniversary and buy us some lattes to remind you of this momentous occasion!”

Chuckling at her antics, he asked, “You done yet?” He walked over to the register to wait for any new customers while Allie followed him. 

“Of course not! I could tease you for hours about this! Wanna try?” She bounced excitedly next to him. 

Harry looked to the sky opening up his hands, “What did I do to deserve this?” 

“How much time you got?” Allie deadpanned before once again descending into giggles. He just shook his head at her. Maybe asking for her help wasn’t as painful as he thought, and her jokes never really stung him so… He bit back a smile as he watched Allie practically dance away to go clean up a table. _She really_ _is insufferable…_

-

Allie leaned her head against her fist as she yawned for probably the third time in the last ten minutes. She really needed to get a handle on her sleep schedule if she was going to make it through this shift. The only thing keeping her eyes open at that very moment was watching Harry try to balance all of the trash he cleared in the bin. He was currently failing which was always perfect entertainment for Allie. 

As she watched Harry walk back towards the counter to empty the bin of trash, she heard the bell above the door ring out. Allie internally groaned at the prospect of having to serve another customer; but as she prepared herself to take the order, she heard Harry say, “Kelly?”

Allie looked up to see probably the prettiest girl ever smile at Harry as he looked at her with a mix of shock and pure joy on his face. 

“Happy to see me?” The girl, apparently named Kelly, laughed taking in Harry’s expression. 

Quickly emptying out the trash bin and setting it down, he went in for a hug, “Probably more shocked, but of course I am!” The supermodel giggled as Harry lifted her up off the ground. “What are you doing here?” 

“Well, I came to see the one and only Harry Bingham actually working a minimum wage job!” She explained making Allie smile as she listened in. She too finds that image very amusing. “How does it feel to be amongst the peasants?” 

Harry just shook his head at her teasing, “So you really drove here all the way from Smith just to make fun of me?” 

“Good of reason as any!” Kelly retorted which instantly earned her points in Allie’s books. Anyone making fun of Harry instantly earned her respect. “Well, actually, I’m visiting my family for the weekend, but I wanted to stop by and see you too,” Kelly amended. “Especially to see if you getting a job was actually real!” 

“Well, here it is in all of its glory!” Harry announced spreading his arms wide showing off the cafe. “Do you want anything to drink while you’re here?” He asked, joining Allie behind the counter while Kelly walked up to the register. 

Kelly looked over her as she stood in front of the register. As her eyes settled on what Allie presumed her name tag was, Kelly looked up at Harry smirking, “So this is-”

He cut her off surprisingly quickly, “Yes. This is Allie.” She turned her head to look at Harry next to her with her eyes narrowed in suspicion.  _ Is he talking to this girl about me? _

Kelly then reached her hand across the register to shake Allie’s hand, “Nice to meet you! I’m Kelly.” 

Allie smiled and graciously took her hand, “Nice to meet you too. Can I get you anything?”

“Sure! Can I just get a small cappuccino?” Allie nodded inputting the order and taking Kelly’s card that she had already pulled out. 

“I’ll get started on that for you,” Harry grinned turning to the cappuccino machine. 

Allie quickly grabbed him before he could get very far, “No, you won’t. You still haven’t finished cleaning up the tables, and we’ve got a full house.” She smirked at him as she watched his face fall before he gathered up the bin again to start cleaning. Allie then turned to Kelly conspiratorially, “If you really wanna make fun of him, watch him try and balance all the trash from the tables! It’s hilarious,” Kelly nodded, giggling at her antics. A quick scan of the room showed Allie that practically none of the tables were available for Kelly to sit at, but she did see an empty chair with a familiar face at the table. “There really isn’t anywhere to sit, but my friend, Becca, has an empty chair! You can go sit with her, she's great I promise,” Kelly then left to join Becca’s table while she turned to get started on her cappuccino. 

After Allie had already given Kelly her drink, Harry finally finished cleaning up and headed back behind the counter. “Not cool, Allie,” was all he said as he joined her. 

“What? Afraid of your girlfriend seeing you fail?” She teased. 

Instead of teasing her back or answering the question, Harry corrected, “Ex-girlfriend.”  _ Oh…  _ She assumed the two must be on good terms then if that hug was anything to go by or the fact that apparently they talk often enough that she came up. 

“Well then, I bet she was very entertained by watching you fail,” Allie remedied her taunt hoping it would still hit the way she originally intended. 

Instead, Harry stared almost wistfully at Kelly, “Probably.” There was a lot more there, she presumed, than just two exes who remained close friends. 

Not really knowing how else to proceed, Allie started to organize the coffee cups, “I’m assuming you wanna take your break now then?” 

“No, I’ll wait. She really seems to be hitting it off with your friend right now,” he laughed. “I’ll just talk to her later.”

Allie just nodded continuing her task as Harry ran back and forth between the counter and tables cleaning everything up as their full house cleared out. It was interesting to meet someone who was a part of Harry’s life like Kelly. Unlike Allie, Harry didn’t have many friends stopping into the coffee shop to say hi or take advantage of his employee discount. According to Cassandra, he was constantly surrounded by an entourage of self-centered misogynists, but those kinds of guys never seemed to come in. Plus, Kelly seemed really sweet. If someone like that could date Harry and still stay friends with him after breaking up, maybe he wasn’t the villain Cassandra made him out to be. 

_ What? _ She shook her head trying to get herself out of her internal monologue. Especially an internal monologue where she was actually considering that her sister was wrong about her jerk co-worker. She fruitlessly tried to stop herself from entertaining the idea as she watched Harry say goodbye to Kelly after she had left Becca’s table to head out. 

She did get a text from Becca later that night profusely thanking her for telling Kelly to sit with her. Not really what she had planned, but maybe that could be an unintended benefit of the whole Harry Bingham situation. 

-

Harry swept the floors as he watched Allie wipe down all of the tables. They store had just closed, and they were cleaning up before they headed out. As Harry was a new employee, he couldn’t close just yet, but he had to learn hence his being stuck in here alone with Allie. Working alone with Allie these past two week consistently bounces between comfortably amusing and horribly awkward. Right now, he thinks they’re teetering toward horribly awkward as they work in silence. Working in silence is never a good idea for Harry’s anxiety. He felt his mind swirling with all of the burning questions he had for the blonde girl cleaning the table next to him. 

Despite his best efforts, he felt one of those very questions crawling up his throat before bursting out, “Why do you hate me?”

Startled, Allie looked up confusion flaring on her face, “What?”

He considered just dismissing what he said and pretending it hadn’t happened to avoid the conversation, but he felt like he needed to know. “Why do you hate me so much? Is it just because of Cassandra?” He always assumed it was just because of what she had heard about him from her sister, but the way she acted made it seem like he had done something to personally wrong her. He just needed to know if it just had to do with his and Cassandra’s relationship, so he could convince her that he wasn’t really like that. 

“No, of course not,” Allie rolled her eyes. “I don’t base all of my opinions on what my sister says.” She could’ve fooled him based on the way she was acting because he could not for the life of him think of why she seemed to hate him so much besides the fact that her sister did too. 

“Then what is it?”

She sighed before setting down the rag she was using to wipe down all of the tables, “The first time we met, you said you didn’t like my cookies, which may sound stupid to you, but I worked really hard on that recipe!” 

Harry narrowed his eyes in confusion, “I didn’t eat anything at that first staff meeting, so I don’t know where you’re getting that story from.” 

Groaning, she finally raised her head from the table to look at him. “That’s not when we first met. You came into the shop one day, and you ordered a cookie. After you ordered, you talked, or well annoyed, Cassandra,” Harry felt the air leave his lungs as he remembered that day. He hadn’t realized it was Allie who took his order, but he remembered talking to Cassandra. It was the same day that he decided to get a job at Elixr. “She then told me you mentioned that the cookie was dry and made it seem like you could do better. I know it may seem stupid, but I really care what people think of that recipe. I’ve put a lot of work into perfecting it,” her eyes started to get wild as she began ranting about her cookies. “I mean, part of the reason Stephen hired me was so he could serve those cookies here!” 

“Slow down!” He exclaimed, throwing his hands up in sudden defense before she could continue her soliloquy on baked goods. “Are you saying that you hate me because I made a comment about a cookie to your sister, not you, and I didn’t even know she was your sister at the time or that you made the cookie?” 

She shrugged shiftly awkwardly as she broke eye contact with him. “Like I said, I know it sounds stupid to you.” 

“It’s not that it sounds stupid, it’s that I know you have more depth than that,” he watched as Allie’s eyebrows furrowed at his statement. “You can’t possibly base your whole opinion of me on an interaction where I couldn’t have possibly known that my comment would get back to you!” 

Stepping back from him, eyes wild, Allie began to shout in defense, “It’s not just that though! It’s the way you talk to my sister in class a-and flirt with all of the customers and act like you’re better than me cause you’re such a natural at using the coffee machine,” she started to speed up her words causing Harry to become worried that she would run out of breath as it didn’t seem like she was pausing anytime soon, “and how you never ask for my help and tease me relentlessly and-and-”

“Allie!” Harry cut her off as soon as he swore her face was turning blue. She took a deep breath after he did that confirming his suspicion that she hadn’t been breathing between examples. “I’m sorry that I did anything to make you hate me, but the way Cassandra and I talk to each other in class is mutual, trust me,” she shook her head like she didn’t believe him. He knew he needed to plough on though if he and Allie were ever going to be friends, “The flirting is for fun and to get better tips, so you can stop being jealous,” she did scoff at that and opened her mouth as if she was going to interrupt, but he continued on before she could, “and I never meant to make you feel like I thought I was better than you. I was just trying to be a good employee, but I would never think you were lesser than me because I knew how to use the coffee machine earlier than you probably did. And I never ask for your help because I know you’re going to tease me because you tease me just as much as I tease you!” 

She dropped her head almost ashamed at her outburst, and something in Harry felt like he needed to comfort or apologize to her. Maybe it was the part of him that felt like she was spiraling and he knew what that was like. Flashes of him begging Kelly to once again forgive him and not leave him ran through his mind. He knew this conversation was a bad idea, but he needed to clear the air with her somehow. 

“Look, Allie,” he could hear his voice grow exponentially softer as he tried to comfort her somehow, “I got this job to make friends outside of Harvard. Despite what you may think, that includes you,” she looked up at him with wide, bright eyes that if he let himself think about it for too long he would almost describe them as beautiful. “I don’t care that you’re Cassandra’s sister and that she and I don’t get along. I want to be friends with you, so can we do that please?” He stared into her eyes refusing to break eye contact. If there was anything he wanted Allie to take away from this conversation, it was that. All he wanted was to be friends with her.

Coughing to break the tension, she reached and grabbed the top of her ear. “It looks like you’re done sweeping the floor, so you can go clock out now. I have to grab dinner anyway.” He nodded taking that to mean that was the end of the conversation. 

As he stood by his car, he watched Allie lock up the coffee shop. He hadn’t wanted to go home just yet; and for some reason, he wanted to ensure she was okay and wasn’t just getting rid of him. He watched her walk into the ramen restaurant that was at the end of the strip where Elixr was. She always stopped there for dinner, he knew, because they closed about an hour after Elixr, so they were always still open. 

He didn’t know why, but Harry really hoped she would come around on the whole being friends thing. Based on what he had heard from Grizz and Helena in the few interactions he had with them, they always described Allie as being the kindest person they knew. He saw it in how she interacted with most customers and how she would talk to her friends when they visited. He knew she was a hard-worker based on every shift he had had so far. There was just something about her, and he wanted to figure it out. 

As he saw a flash of golden hair leave the ramen shop, he got in his car to drive away before she could notice him in the parking lot. 

-

Allie wiped off the table as Harry swept the floor a few feet away from her. Their positions were eerily similar to the ones they were in just the other night when he told her that he wanted to be friends with him. She could still picture his eyes staring into hers as he tried to convince her to attempt the whole friendship thing with him. Every so often since then Allie felt like she couldn’t shake his stare off of her; but whenever, she looked up Harry was never looking at her. 

She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket as she stacked the chairs on the table she had just finished cleaning. She pulled it out to read whatever text she had received. Allie hoped it was Sam sending her the answers to the AP Chemistry homework she had asked for earlier. Instead, it was a frantic text from her dad. 

Allie felt her vision start to spin as she read the texts:  _ Cassandra passed out, at hospital, meet us asap.  _ She felt her breathing start to get shallow as her chest tightened. Her grip on her phone tightened to the point where she swore it would break in half. She felt the walls closing in on her as images of Cassandra in a hospital bed with the flatlining went through her head. 

Tears flooded her eyes as she thought of all the things she still had to do before she could get to the hospital. She needed to finish cleaning up, clock out, lock up, and drive there…  _ Damn it!  _ Her car was in the shop right now. She was going to call Becca for a ride home, so now she had no way of getting to the hospital. Allie now felt tears falling down her face as she took shaky breaths trying to get that under control along with her erratic heart beat. 

“Allie?” She heard a soft voice next to her right ear, but she could’ve sworn the voice was really a million mile away. She felt a strong hand guide her, so she was sitting in a chair now instead of on her legs which would not stop shaking. “Hey, Allie, can you look at me?” She heard the voice in front of her now. She tried lifting her head, but it felt like cement on top of her shoulders. Instead, Allie compromised by lifting just her eyes up. 

Apparently the voice was Harry Bingham who was currently smiling encouragingly at her, “Good. Now, can you take a deep breath with me?” He breathed in deep through his nose and out through his mouth looking at her to do the same. She tried, but it wasn’t working. He did it a second time instead of reprimanding her or something. This time she was able to at least do it, breath still incredibly shaky. Eventually after another minute of taking deep breaths, her breathing started to even out again. 

“Good job,” he praised. “Now, let’s see what could we talk about? How about how much you love it when I can’t balance trash?” Allie still focused on her breathing instead of answering him back knowing that that was more important. Harry seemed to get the idea and continued on his own, “I mean, I really do suck at it! Like, okay you’re about to see how much of a dork I really am, but, I used to play tetris all the time, yet I can’t balance some simple trash!” He shook his head as if he was amused by himself. “I must truly be a terrible employee,” he joked, which got one side of Allie’s mouth quirking up as she continued to breathe. 

“Or we could talk about our least favorite customers, and I know you have a lot!” He exclaimed, changing the topic once again. “What about the guy who orders tea and uses all of the honey? Like I did not take you seriously the first time you told me to hide it when he walked in, but something is up with him!” Slowly, Allie started to smile as she remembered forcing Harry to wipe down the counter after the honey guy got it all sticky since he refused to hide the honey like she told him. “Or the lady who always complains that her hot coffee is too hot! Order an iced coffee then!” She breathed out finally starting to feel her heart rate slow and her breathing returning to normal. 

“Thank you,” she whispered, and he nodded smiling warmly at her. 

“Do you need anything else?” He asked instead of preening or saying you’re welcome. That stopped her in her tracks for a split second. He really did seem to care.  _ Maybe we could be friends…  _

“I-i need to get to the hospital. C-cassandra is there, but the shop-and I don’t have my car-and,” her words started to get choppy again as she felt her heart rate slowly increase at the thought of everything she had to do and what if she doesn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Cassandra?

“Allie!” Harry grabs her knees grounding her into reality before she could spiral again. At that, she took another deep breath remembering how he had coached her earlier. She nodded to indicate she was okay. “Don’t worry about the shop, I’ll close up for you,” she started to try and interject knowing that he wasn’t allowed to close, but he just shook his head. “Fuck the rules, Allie. Your sister is more important. I’ll finish cleaning, lock up, and clock you out. Just go.” 

Nodding quickly, she opened up her phone again. She pulled up the Lyft app to try and request a ride, but Harry put his hand over her’s. “Don’t bother, take my car,” he practically ordered, pressing his keys into her other hand. She looked up at him, eyes practically bulging out of her head. She’s seen what Harry drives and there is no way he could actually be trusting her with his car right now! No matter the circumstance, she didn’t think anyone would just give an almost random person the keys to their Maserati. 

“Seriously?”

“Yes!” He exclaimed, pulling her up out of the seat. “Now go!” As soon as she reached the door, she turned to thank him, but he just waved her off and out of the store. 

Allie drove as fast as she legally could to reach the hospital, and she practically sprinted through the hallways to the wing her dad had texted her that they were in. She slowed down as she spotted her parents standing above the bed containing Cassandra. She seemed to be okay except for the IV attached to her arm. “What happened?!” Allie demanded as soon as she reached her family. They then explained to her that Cassandra became dehydrated while studying for a huge test in one of her classes and ended up passing out. Luckily, her roommate was there and was able to immediately get her help. Other than the dehydration, Cassandra would be fine. The hospital just needed to keep her overnight to watch her and to ensure her heart was okay. 

“That was really stupid, Cass,” Allie reprimanded her after their parents left to grab a quick snack from one of the vending machines. 

“I know, I’m sorry about making you worry. You know how I get when I study though!” 

“That doesn’t make it better!” Allie argued. “You need to take care of yourself okay? Because I need you to be here for me! Better than that, the world needs you here! If you’re going to be on the Supreme Court or president one day, you need to take better care of yourself!” Cassandra laughed at that, but Allie knew she was secretly touched by what she said. She smiled at her sister now that she knew she was okay, and she didn’t have to say goodbye. 

After a few more minutes of laughing with her sister, her parents returned sharing a bag of M&M’s. They then told Allie she should probably go home and make sure everything was okay at the house. They were going to spend the night here with Cassandra just in case. Just like when they were kids, Allie was expected to stay home while her parents got to stay here with Cassandra. However, since she refused to cause her parents more grief than needed, she just nodded and hugged Cassandra and her parents goodbye before heading out. 

Allie exited the front doors of the hospital to head to the parking lot; but instead, she was met with a familiar face. “Harry?” She called out who was currently reading the sign outside of the hospital probably wondering if he was at the right entrance. He turned to see her and smiled. “What are you doing here?” 

He held up a plastic bag by his side, “I know you usually eat dinner after your shift, and I assumed you hadn’t had a chance to eat yet. So I picked up some ramen at that place by Elixr for you.” Allie felt her heart melt at that. Okay, she probably did misjudge him. There was no way a complete and total asshole would ever do this for someone. On top of everything else he had done for her tonight, he also remembered that she had dinner after her shift and that she likes the ramen restaurant. 

“You didn’t have to do that, but thank you,” she told him smiling so wide her cheek muscles were already aching. 

Harry walked up to her handing her the bag returning her smile, “Yes, I did.” 

They ended up sitting on a bench nearby the hospital both eating their ramen in comfortable silence for once. Eventually, she knew that she did have to break it, “Cassandra’s okay, by the way. They’re gonna keep her overnight, but she’s gonna be fine.” 

He nodded, shifting his seat to face her. He looked as if he wanted to ask her something but was too scared to, “Can I ask what happened?” At Allie’s hesitation, he added in a rush, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to!”  
“She has a congenital heart defect,” she said instead of changing the subject. Cassandra wasn’t ashamed of it. If anything it made people even more impressed by her to see all that she’d done while practically battling death on the daily. So if Cassandra wasn’t ashamed, why should Allie? “She got dehydrated while studying and passed out. Of course, because of her heart, that’s cause for much greater concern. I mean, even the common cold is terrifying.” 

“Yeah, I get it. When my dad was diagnosed with cancer, my mom would practically quarantine me and my sister if we so much as coughed,” Harry joked. Allie could tell this was much more than a joke though. This was Harry opening up to her in turn and making sure she didn’t feel ashamed for carrying this with her. He was trying to relate to her. 

“Is your dad still-” he cut her off with a shake of his head. “I’m sorry,” he just shrugged her shoulders as if just telling her to drop it. “Well, I also wanted to thank you for helping me back at Elixr. How did you know what to do?” 

This time it was Harry hesitating but after all they had shared tonight, Allie assumed he just kind of gave up on lying about it, “I get panic attacks too. They’re different for everyone, but I just used the tactics that work best for me. If that didn’t work, I would’ve tried some other things my therapist has mentioned.” Taking in all of that, she realized tonight really was about him opening up to her. She had learned more about him in the last five minutes than she had during all of their shifts together and all of her conversations with Cassandra about him.

“Well, thank you, seriously. Not just for that, Harry, but for everything. I mean, lending me your car, bringing me dinner, all of it. It really means a lot to me.” 

“Well,” he knocked their shoulders together, “what are friends for, right?” 

She smiled up at him, “Yeah. Friends.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! comments and kudos always appreciated


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